Oil Industry Sues To Overturn Ethanol-In-Gasoline Mandate

Blame the government's ethanol targets, says the oil industry--and it's sueing the Environmental Protection Agency for what it describes as "overzealous" biofuel mandates.

The American Petroleum Institute filed the lawsuit over the EPA's decision to mandate the use of 1.28 billion gallons of biodiesel in 2013, reports The Detroit News. That figure is 28 percent higher than the 2012 target

The API says the EPA has even admitted that the costs outweight the benefits of such a mandate by $425 million.

And those burgers? The National Council of Chain Restaurants has stepped in too, saying it could cost the industry $3.2 billion annually. Corn is an essential feed for pork and beef producers, and increases in cost have pushed up the cost of meat across the board. It's yet another symptom of the food versus fuel debate--With huge swathes of land devoted to crops specifically for fuel, it puts restrictions on the amount which can be used for feeding both humans and livestock.

The API's lawsuit is also the latest in a long stream of back-and-forth battles between the EPA's mandates for ethanol and biofuel use, and opposing parties who face significant costs as a result.

The EPA says that even if it waived the mandate, corn prices would drop by a mere 1 percent.

Opponents to those appealing against the EPA's mandates say the renewable fuel standards are creating jobs in central America. Tony Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, says the API's lawsuit is "a classic example of the fox guarding the chicken coop".

Whatever the costs and benefits of ethanol and biofuels, it seems the results are the same as ever--plenty of fighting between stakeholders, but little in the way of progress.